The Journey of Dale Gaines
by pokemon2471
Summary: Dale Gaines is a new trainer whose journey is to help out his family and friends who live all around the Obrya region. How will it go? What friends will he make? How will his pokemon team hold up? That is all for him to find out on his journey.
1. The Start of a Journey

**Welcome to a new Pokemon story of mine (I know I enjoy starting new stories). This one is special since it uses an idea that I've never been a big fan of and that's sending the main character on a journey of their own. Usually I feel it's always sending trainer off to conquer the gyms in said region so I always strayed from that but always wanted to try a Journey story, so I have found a way of doing a journey story without using the whole beating gyms and yet keeping it interesting along the way. Here is The Journey of Dale Gaines**

 **The Journey of Dale Gaines**

 **The Start of a Journey**

My name is Dale Gaines and I am 16 years old. In the pokemon world you have many branches to becoming a pokemon trainer. Some enroll in a pokemon school to educate them on pokemon and then obtain their first pokemon in an official capacity. Others can obtain a pokemon by their parents and keep it as a pet. While some wait until they are the right age and go out and catch their own pokemon and use it as their own. But most often whatever way you go about trainer go out and explore the world with their pokemon. Of course as well there are many experiences to take once you are out in the grand world. Well of course you don't have to travel the world but it is one of the most popular ways to grow as a trainer and if you want to get more experience with your pokemon. Today is that day for me. Today I Dale Gaines get to travel the world with my first pokemon on my own journey.

It is 12 o clock and it is officially a week after I have graduated from the Force City Pokemon School. That means that me and three others are going to be getting our first pokemon from Professor Steinsston. The four of us are outside the Professor's lab waiting to be invited inside.

First there is me, Dale Gaines, a spunky young trainer who honestly just wants to see the sights and help people out. I am of average height and slim. My brown hair is cut quite short which I enjoy not having to deal with. I am wearing a normal green shirt and basketball shorts. I feel quite average.

Next is my best friend Lelia Luca. She is slightly shorter than me and enjoys wearing pink shirts and jeans. Today she is wearing a pink shirt that had a Mudkip on it. She has long blond hair that is wrapped in a ponytail. She also wants to be the best Flying type Pokemon trainer and only wants to catch pokemon that are of the Flying type.

After that is Joseph Loginov, a stern type of person. He is taller than me with the same hairstyle as me but instead of brown hair his is blond. He is wearing a white tank top and grey shorts. He is well known through our school as being a trainer that focuses more on a pokemon's power and wants strong pokemon.

Finally, there is Darcey Sutherland, she was what you would call a more nerdish girl. She seems to look the part with her glasses, book bag and nose deep in a book. She though is just as tall as me with almost black hair tied up in a bun. She is wearing what looks like a summer dress which is unsusal since her goal in life was to know all about Pokemon and to become professor.

Suddenly the door to the lab opens up and out comes Professor Steinsson. He is an older man with grey hair but always has a smile on his face. He has on a lab coat and seems pleased we have shown up on time. "Come in come in I think I have exactly what you are looking for." He holds the door open for us and we walk into the extensive lab.

The Professor's lab is an extremely large warehouse type space that seems to have many different stations that are dedicated to different objections. On one wall is a large tank filled with water with a Quagsire paddling in the water with two scientists looking at it. In another area is a Raichu sending out electricity into a machine with a scientist next to it jotting down notes. Finally, on the opposite wall from Quagsire, are three Chespin, with scientists around them trying to see which ones vines are longer.

"Here we go. These will be the pokemon everyone but Lelia will choose from. She specifically asked if she could choose from Flying type pokemon which I agreed to," I look to see that we have crossed the lab and are at a small space away from the other experiments. I see a machine right in front of us that has six pokeballs on it and assume these are the pokemon we will be choosing from. "The Pokemon you will be choosing from are Tentacool, Sableye, Gastly, Skiddo, Magby, and Trapinch. Due to the fact that Dale was here first I think he should be allowed to pick first." Oh wow I wasn't expecting to go first.

"Alright, but I will need a bit of time to think first." I say and the professor nods.

"That's fair. It will give the others the same thinking time as well."

Ok let's look at this through each pokemon. Tentacool wouldn't be the best starter pokemon since I can only mostly use it in water. If I'm not around water it won't be much help to me. So Tentacool is out.

Sableye is one to think about. It doesn't evolve so will start strong and stay strong. Plus it has a mega evolution which makes it stronger. Being a Dark and Ghost type means it will have a wide selection of interesting moves to use.

Gastly is another interesting Pokemon since it is also part ghost type but it's a three way evolution. Could be extremely powerful, once it gets to Gengar, it also is a pokemon with a mega evolution, but I've heard all three can be quite tricky pokemon, so it's still on the table just low.

Skiddo is a grass type pokemon that could be an extremely good starter pokemon. Its evolution Gogoat could be quite useful since I could ride it around instead of walking constantly. It's not going to be as powerful as some of the others but it could be useful.

Magby is a fire type that if we are talking about power is probably one of the most powerful with its final evolution Magmortar being a beast in battle. But Magby is a baby pokemon and will require a lot of care before its evolution. This is another maybe for me.

Finally is Trapinch, a ground type pokemon but evolves into Vibrava and then Flygon, both of who are dragon type pokemon. Dragon types are well known for their power and as a Flygon I could use its flying capabilities to make my journey a bit easier. But the journey to that final evolution would be just that, a journey.

This is a difficult choice but I have what I think is the correct option for me is.

"I am going to go with Trapinch." The professor took a pokeball and opens up and out comes my new Trapinch who trundles over to me and it looks to be quite glad at having a trainer now. The professor gives me its pokeball and then turns to Joseph. "Your turn."

"I'll take Gastly." He says simply. Professor Steinsston takes another pokeball and releases the Gastly inside and gives the pokeball to Joseph. He then turns to Darcey.

"I'll take Sableye. It would be interesting to study its mega evolution." Steinsston smiles at her while also picking up another pokeball and releasing the Sableye inside who happily walks over to its new trainer.

"Now for you." He says to Lelia and he goes over to a desk near us and picks up three pokeballs and turns back towards Lelia. "Your choices are Combee, Fletchling, and Hoppip."

Lelia thinks for a few moments and then says "I'll go with the most natural bird pokemon for my starter. I'll choose Fletchling. At least with its evolution I'll be able to combat Ice types." The Professor set two pokeballs down and then with the third in his hand he releases Fletchling, who immediately goes towards Lelia and sits on her shoulder.

"Well my job here is over, it's time for you four to set off on your journeys now. Good luck to you all." With that the four new trainers left his lab.

Outside Joseph immediately recalls his Gastly into its pokeball and puts the ball on his belt. "I don't know what you all are going to do but I'm off. Need to see the skills Gastly as and see how well of a battler it is. Later." With that he starts walking down the road and away from us. Darcey looks at us as well.

"I should be going now as well. Not only do I want to study Sableye a bit more I do have to look into the lab jobs I've put into for some of the professors across the region. See you around. Keep in touch guys." With that Darcey and Sableye take off.

With that it's just me and Lelia just walking down the sidewalk in town, Her Fletchling on her shoulder and my Trapinch walking next to me. I'm not sure where we are walking but it feels good that we have finally started our journey even though we still are in town.

"I should be going as well you know. I'm going to have to see about little Fletchling here." She rubs its chest area and its gives a sweet little tweet. "Plus I'm going to have to catch many more Flying types if I want to get an edge on the completion. What are you going to do?" We've stopped outside my house and I knew this is where we will part ways until we meet again. It was a short walk but still it felt like a long time.

"Well as you know I have a huge family that lives all across the Obrya region. My mom thinks it might make me stronger as a trainer and as a person if I help them out with any sort of job they need doing. It will also give me a chance to explore the region more and have short term jobs in mind to help me achieve any goals I have."

"Well good for you." Lelia smiles at me. "With you exploring the region I know we'll eventually meet up again. Plus I have your number in case I need to practice." She bent down to Trapinch. "I know you've only been his trainer for barely a half an hour but you take care of him. He's my best friend and I know you'll be happy with him." Trapinch looks happy and seems to smile at her. "See you around Dale." With that she's off running towards who knows where.

I head inside my house to see my mom and dad one last time before leaving. Our two story house is situated closer to the center of town and is nice and homely. I enter into a quaint living room where my mom and dad are sitting on a couch. They look up from their conversation and smile at me.

Andrea Gaines is a slender looking woman with long brown hair and green eyes. She is the person who gave me the idea to go out and help the family and also altered each person about my journey and to call me if they needed help. She stays at home more or less to take care of the house while my dad works.

Robert Gaines is a tall broad man with dark hair and green eyes. He owns his own pokemon battle clubs that appear across the Obrya region. So far there are 6 in 6 different towns, one as well right here in Force City. He's told me that if I am ever in one of the towns to head to one and test out the trainers there. I've watched quite a few battles in the one here at town which seems to test trainers skills in different types of matches and even has quite a few well named people associated with some.

"I see you went with a Trapinch as your starter. That's a good choice if you want a strong pokemon on your team." My dad says chuckling knowing that I wasn't so concerned about raw power as opposed to Joseph.

"I figured I could use power as well as traveling capabilities when it evolves. Plus being a ground type is very helpful against electric types." I respond back picking up Trapinch and holding it in my arms.

"Well I guess you are on your way now aren't you, just like Mark and Patricia did when they left on their journeys. They couldn't wait to achieve their goals." My mom says talking about my older brother and sister who had been gone on their adventures for a few years now, but every so often checked back in to tell us how they were doing.

"Yes, I'm going to have to see Aunt Jessica as soon as I can. She was my first call for something and so I would like to get a move on as soon as possible. Even though it's only in the next town if I leave now I'll end up getting there tonight." I say as I pick up my backpack that has all the things I will need for the journey around the Obrya region.

"Well good luck." My mom says getting up and giving me a hug and a kiss. "Keep in touch, but I have a feeling the family will keep us updated on your adventures."

"Yes and don't forget to keep on the lookout for Mark and Patricia. You are bound to run into them soon enough." My dad says. "Also remember you did promise that if you are in a town that has a battle club you'll stop in." I chuckled dad was always so attentive to his creation.

"Of course I will. I love them and now that I have a pokemon I'll need to showcase my strength." I start moving towards the door. "Bye! I love you both."

"See you around." My mom says.

"Have fun." My dad tells me.

With that I leave the green painted house and move off the white porch that I had grew up in for my whole life. I start heading towards the edge of toward in the direction of Westwend Town, where Aunt Jessica lives.

"So Trapinch, I am excited for this new journey we are going to be going on. I have a large family so we'll always have something to do and someplace new to visit." As it walks along beside me it gives an audible reaction that makes me think it's also glad. "Oh hang on," I pause and turn towards it. "I forgot to check on your details in my PokePhone." I pull out a grey rectangular device. It serves as a cellphone but also a way to connect to the internet, a texting unit and as well as a way of checking on my pokemon's move set, stats, and other interesting details. I hold it out to my Trapinch and my device scans it, finishing after only a few seconds. "So you are able to use Bite, Bulldoze, and Endure. That seems like a solid starting move set. You seem to be able to defend yourself and counteract quite well. It says here that you are 2 feet and 5 inches tall and weigh 30 pounds. Not bad. You are in regular size range for a Trapinch." I put away my PokePhone and we continue walking.

Soon we reach the edge of the city and beyond this is Weststring Forest, a forest that separates Westwend Town and Force City. Beyond this is where my journey begins.

"Are you ready Trapinch?" Trapinch nods excitingly. "Then off we go!" I yell as we walk onto our journey.

 **Thank you for reading this. Please review and tell me what you think of the idea. I am excited for the chance to showcase one character going on a journey and seeing how it plays out.**


	2. What is in Weststring Forest?

**Here is the second chapter on The Journey of Dale Gaines. Dale and Trapinch are now in the Weststring Forest and must figure out what is causing such a ruckus in the forest. I hope you enjoy it!**

 **The Journey of Dale Gaines**

 **Chapter 2-What is in Weststring Forest?**

Trapinch and I, Dale Gaines, have just entered Weststring Forest, the forest that separates Force City, my hometown and Westwend Town, my destination. We are heading there to visit my Aunt Jessica who has a job she wants me to do for her. That is the reason for me journeying around the Obrya region, I want to help out my friends and family with any jobs that might want me to do. So far we have just eft Force City and have entered into Weststring Forest. Not as dense as some other forests I have seen but certainly a forest nonetheless.

"So we should be out of this forest in roughly a few hours and then we will be on outskirts of Westwend Town." Trapinch is moving along happily next to me looking around the forest at the different pokemon that would appear all of a sudden. I could spot a few Oddishs, a Snover, a Phantump, and even a Skitty as we are walking along. It is very peaceful in here and I know we would be just walking around lazily. That is until we hear a tremendous stampede and before we can react, a whole serge of Oddish, Gloom, Stunky, Trumbeak, Liligant, and even a Bulbasaur come out onto the path in front of us and run away.

Trapinch and I are quite confused since we have no idea why a whole heard of pokemon just ran away quite terrified. That is until we hear the ghostly cry coming through the forest. We both suddenly freeze unable to comprehend what we just heard.

"You heard that correct?" I ask Trapinch.

"Inch, inch," It responds. But by looking at it I know it feels the same fear that I do.

"What should we do?" I ask but before it can respond we hear another ghostly groan flow through the forest, until something pieces together in my mind. "Hang on its day time. Ghosts or phantoms don't exist until the night. Let's go find out what is causing that noise." Trapinch looks unsure but as soon as I head in the direction of the sounds, it follows close behind me.

Soon after a short walk I realize that the sound is coming from next to us and see a huge decomposing log on the ground. Trapinch and I both realize the sound is coming from the log and I know a way to get whatever is making the sound to come out.

"Trapinch, use Bulldoze on the log," Trapinch's foot glows white and it stamps the ground hard. A shockwave is created from Trapinch's stomp and it rushes towards the log. Due to the nature of the log once the shockwave hits it the log immediately splits open and crumbles around itself. Out from the log appears an Inkay, looking dazed from the attack on the log.

"Ink," It mumbles and then spots us. It quickly gathers up its wits and darts back into the forest, away from us.

Trapinch looks stunned, as well as me, that it was in fact just a small pokemon that was causing all the panic. I decide to exam part of the log that wasn't destroyed by Trapinch's attack and see what else I can discover.

"It looks like the log has several holes all around it and Inkay probably used its voice on the holes to amplify what it sounded like to make the ghostly groans." I stare off in the direction that Inkay went. I wasn't sure but it seemed kind of afraid of us, almost like it wasn't expecting to be confronted. "Maybe we should go find it and make sure it is ok. I wouldn't want to be the cause of it hurting itself because we scared it." Trapinch looks like it agrees with it and we start walking in the direction that Inkay went off in.

I realize that the direction we are going in is more so towards Westwend town and isn't really putting us off our timetable so I am not that bothered by going to find Inkay. Soon we enter into a nice opening that is covered in mossy grass and trees surround it. There we find Inkay floating around near the center. It doesn't seem to notice so we approach it some more. It turns around and seems scared that we followed it and it moves away from us.

"Wait, its ok. We don't want to hurt you." But Inkay didn't want to listen and starts to move away quicker, until there comes a metallic screeching. Through the forest appears a Metang that looks quite angry at Inkay. Its face looks rageful and it's only a few inches from Inkay, looking like it wants to hurt it. Inkay must have understood its intentions because before I can even call out to it, it rushes away and hides behind me, looking even more frightened than before.

Metang moves closer to us and Trapinch gets in-between me and our opposing pokemon. It starts inching towards us and moving its arms in a fast motion. "That's Bullet Punch. Trapinch, jump above it and use Bite." Trapinch easily dodges the rapid moving punches by jumping and bites onto the steel spike protruding from Metang's face. Trapinch seems to be more bothering Metang than hurting it and easily it's able to shake off Trapinch, where it lands on the ground in front of me.

Metang then charges up one of its arms into an attack and starts moving towards Trapinch. "That's Meteor Mash. Trapinch, use Endure." Trapinch starts glowing white and Metang's attack collided with Trapinch but instead of feeling pain it took the attack and got flung into me. I suddenly had an idea. "Trapinch, use Bite and use all of your weight to launch Metang into the ground. Go!" I said flinging it towards its opponent.

Trapinch starts flying towards Metang and when it's in range latches onto Metang's spike, but instead of staying on, it keeps moving over Metang until it uses its weight to fling Metang over and onto the ground.

"Now use Bulldoze," Trapinch lands quite close to Metang, who is on the ground, and its foot glows white and it stamps the ground, producing a shockwave that collides into Metang. Metang is flung backwards and starts floating again in the air. I expect another attack but the Metal Claw pokemon just floats away, seemingly not wanting to prolong the fight.

"Trap, trap." Trapinch says with enthusiasm at driving its opponent away.

"The Metang is gone. You can come out now." I say to the shaking pokemon behind me. Slowly Inkay comes out from hiding behind me and I turn to face it. "Everything is ok now. But that I can see why Metang was angry at you, you are quite a trickster aren't you?" Inkay seems to smile a bit but looks quite shy at admitting that in fact it was just trying to play a prank on the other wild pokemon. "Well I guess no harm done. We have to get going toward the next city anyway. See you around." I say waving goodbye.

We start walking away and suddenly I hear a cry from behind me and Inkay comes rushing in front of me, looking like it doesn't want me to leave it alone. I turn to Trapinch and it seems to understand what I am thinking as well. "Hey Inkay, do you want to come with us?" Inkay starts nodding vigorously and looing happy at the idea. I open up an empty pokeball and hold it out to Inkay. "If you want to I would be more than happy to have to along for the ride." Before I can say another word Inkay headbutts the pokeball and it opens up and grabs Inkay with a red light. It shakes two times and then the latch clicks indicating Inkay has been captured.

"Hey I captured my first pokemon!" I yell in excitement and Trapinch joins in the merriment. "I should see what Inkay's battle skills are." I open up my PokePhone and let it exam Inkay's pokeball. "It only knows Psycho Cut and Topsy-Turvy. Interesting, it doesn't seem to have a lot of battling experience." I put my phone and Inkay's pokeball away. "Off we go then Trapinch?"

"Trap, Trapinch." It responds happily.

"Off we go then to Westwend Town."

 **Thank you for reading and please review and tell me what you thought of it. I'm glad I was able to get his first capture so early on. There will definitely be more development of Inkay in the future and as early on as the next chapter. I hope you will all enjoy it.**


	3. The Stone Street Gang

**Welcome to the third chapter of The Journey of Dale Gaines. This chapter will be the conclusion of Weststring Forest arc (if you can consider two chapters an arc). In this chapter Dale encounters a gang that wants to rob him and challenge him to an unwinnable match in the process.**

 **The Journey of Dale Gaines**

 **Chapter 3-The Stone Street Gang**

For quite literally being on my journey for barely an hour Trapinch and I are doing quite well. So far Trapinch has been able to fend off a Metang, quite a feat, and I captured an Inkay. So far so good.

"I wonder what else will happen now Trapinch? We are only halfway through this forest and it's still the first day of the journey." Trapinch smiles at me and walks around excitingly, looking at all the movements of the forest around us. "I'm so excited for anything else now."

Up in a tall tree not far away are three people, 2 men and a woman all in their early 20s. The woman has long brown hair with a slender body, average height, but a stern face. One of the men is tall with shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes covered up by sunglasses. The last man is shorter than the other two with short brown hair and had a beard that covered his face.

"Bruno, this kid has to be an idiot to be walking in the woods all by himself." The woman said to the man with the sunglasses while setting down a pair of binoculars that are wrapped around her neck.

"He's a new trainer, Roxanne, so he's bound to have a ton of items and money that we can steal off him. Plus it's not like he's got any pokemon that can do any worthwhile harm to us. What do you think Chris?" Bruno, the man with the sunglasses, looks at the third member of their group.

Chris scratches his beard before answering, "This kid made a Metang run away from him. He's bound to have something on him that will be worth it. I say we go after him before he gets out of this forest."

"Agreed," Roxanne says. The three members look at each other with sinister smiles on their faces.

"I think we should be out of this forest in about an hour. I can't wait to see my aunt soon." I notice there is a rustling in the trees and soon objects fall from the trees in front of us. Those objects happen to be 2 men and a woman, the woman being on one side of the men.

"Kid, we aren't going to make this difficult for you so we'll say this as simply as possible. There are three of us here and only one of you. So be a good little boy and empty out all your belongings and we will take what we feel is worthwhile." The woman says out loud to me.

"What? Who are you people?" I ask extremely confused and thinking this is all one huge joke.

"Kid, you will soon realize your mistake in coming through this forest," the man in the middle states while taking off his sunglasses. "You will soon know the true terror the name the Stone Street Gang comes with." Wait the Stone Street Gang, that sounds like the name of some wannabie gangsters.

"Who do you think you are? I'm not just going to hand over my stuff go away." I say in a serious tone. While I think they take themselves too seriously I do see them actually intending to harm me if I don't comply.

"Kid, you would do best to do as we say." The man with a beard says. The whole team takes two steps towards me. Trapinch immediately gets in front of me and has an angry face indicating that it doesn't like what these guys are threating to do.

"Oh look, you're wimpy new pokemon wants to defend you. How cute. But can it defend against three attacks at once?" All three of the gang in front of me pulls out a pokeball from their belts. I don't know if Trapinch can defeat three pokemon at once. It was barely able to stop a Metang. "Sewaddle, go!" The woman says with power in her voice as she throws the pokeball.

"Help me out Hoppip." The man with the sunglasses states also throwing his pokeball out.

"Oshawott, you are up." The final man says while throwing his pokeball.

All three pokemon appear from their pokeballs and stand next to their trainers. I should have expected this but wasn't expecting such a brutal line up. All of these pokemon have types that are quite effective against Trapinch. But maybe I still have a chance.

"Trapinch, use Bulldoze. Try and hit all of them." I command to Trapinch. Trapinch raises its foot, while it glows white, and pounds it on the ground, releasing a shockwave that was sent towards the gang's pokemon.

"Sewaddle, dodge." The woman commands.

"Oshawott, dodge as well." Both Sewaddle and Oshawott jump over the shockwave while Hoppip just floats over it. Rats I forgot that Hoppip is part Flying type and so Ground type attacks have no effect on it.

"Sewaddle, Use Razor Leaf." Sewaddle sends out a whole bunch of leaves from its body at Trapinch.

"Trapinch, show that you can dodge attacks as well." Trapinch easily maneuvers away from the leaves and comes back in front of me unharmed.

"Hoppip, Fairy Wind." Hoppip, from its leaves, sends out a pink wind. I don't even need to tell Trapinch to dodge since it dodges away from the attack.

"Oshawott, Water Gun." Damn, do these people let up? I can barely get an attack in.

"Trapinch, dodge. Then go after Oshawott with Bite." Trapinch dodges the attack and rushes towards Oshawott and chomps right on its head.

"Hoppip, use Tackle on Trapinch." Hoppip starts rushing towards Trapinch and slams its whole body into Trapinch, effectively disabling the attack and saving its partner. I can't seem to do anything. I'm either dodging attacks or if I am able to land an attack on one of my opponents, the other pokemon save them. I have one other option but was hoping to test it out later on. I pull out Inkay's pokeball.

"Inkay, I need your help." I throw the pokeball and out appears Inkay who I just captured barely half an hour ago. Inkay looks quite surprised to be out. "Inkay, Trapinch needs your help with our opponents." Inkay looks over and sees the three pokemon in front of us and suddenly looks quite scared at what it is facing. Oh no.

"It doesn't matter if there is now two pokemon we still have the advantage. Oshawott, Water Gun." Oshawott fires off water from its mouth.

"Inkay, counter with Psycho Cut." I command. Inkay, looking like it would do anything at this point, raises one of its tentacles and fires off a vertical stream of pink energy. The energy collides with the water and cancels each other out. The woman looks annoyed at that.

"Chris, it's a simple pokemon it's not that difficult to take out. Sewaddle, Razor Leaf." Once again Sewaddle fires off a bunch of leaves from its body.

"Inkay, Psycho Cut again." I say. Even though it had no problem countering the attack before it still looks scared when it releases the same pink energy in a knife like swiping motion at the leaves. The energy easily makes the leaves stop and fall to the ground. The woman looks pissed at the fact that my Inkay is defending against the attacks so easily.

"Ok, Stone Street Gang special attack time. Sewaddle, Razor Leaf." The woman yells.

"Hoppip, Fairy Wind" The Hoppip's trainer yells.

"Oshawott, Water Gun," Chris yells.

All three attacks are fired off simultaneously but the Water Gun hits Inkay first and sends it backwards. I manage to catch it in between my hands in midair. The Fairy Wind and Razor Leaf attacks hit Trapinch and send it flying and knocking into me.

"That is the power of the Stone Street Gang kid. So it's about time you give us what we want." The man called Chris says to me as he starts walking towards me.

"Inkay, use Psycho Cut on the tree branch above us." I point to a tree branch that is sticking out above us. Inkay, in a frightened attitude, launches the attack right at the tree branch and cuts it so it falls in between us and Chris so his pathway is blocked off. "Let's go!" I yell and pick up both my pokemon and start running through the woods, off the path we were on.

We keep running for a minute or at least until I feel we are a significant distance from the gang. I realize that while we aren't on a path we are still completely surrounded by trees and it gives us a bit of cover to hide incase those people come after us.

"Who were they?" Trapinch and Inkay both shrugged but I can tell the incident has shaken up Inkay a bit. "Hey, it's ok. I was quite frightened as well. But I can see now why you were so frightened of that Metang." I realize now that Inkay is a more delicate pokemon than I originally thought. I was under the impression it was more of a jokester and while that may still be true, it certainly doesn't like to face any type of danger. "How about a new plan? Let's try getting through these woods without encountering those people again." Inkay looks really happy about that. "But if we do encounter them we more than likely will have to battle them." Inkay looks a bit disappointed at this but understands that this has to be done in order for us to get out of here.

We start walking towards where the exit to the forest is. Inkay keeps close to me and Trapinch looks around at every tree. I keep expecting to get ambushed by that gang at any moment. Soon enough after fifteen minutes of following parallel to the path I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"There's the exit." The path and forest end about twenty feet in front of us. We get back on the path and I'm just about to start running when I see leaves start flying out at us. "Look out!" We all dive to the ground as the leaves pass over us.

"We figured you would try to get to the exit without confronting us so it was easy enough to figure out where you would end up." The woman from the gang appears in front of us, along with the rest of her team and all their pokemon. Now we really had a fight on our hands. They were in between us and the exit.

"Inkay, use Psycho Cut on Hoppip." I command. Inkay uses the move and the energy is sent towards Hoppip.

"Hoppip, use Reflect." Hoppip's trainer commands. Hoppip's eyes glow and it surrounds itself and its other teammates in a pink shield. The Psycho Cut hits the shield and barely makes a dent in it.

"Inkay, use Topsy-Turvy." Inkay flips its body over and starts having a dark aura surrounding it. This same dark aura surrounds the shield and our opponent's pokemon. The shield completely shatters due to the aura.

"Oshawott, Water Gun."

"Hoppip, Fairy Wind."

"Sewaddle, Razor Leaf."

All three attacks are sent directly towards us but I don't know if the gang knows about the effects of Topsy-Turvy. "Inkay, dodge. Trapinch, Endure." Inkay dodges around the leaves and Water Gun that try and hit it and Trapinch gets hit from the Fairy Wind but is able to keep the damage as minimum as possible. "Now Inkay, Psycho Cut on Hoppip and Trapinch use Bulldoze on Oshawott and Sewaddle." Inkay fires off its knife life motion of energy and Trapinch unleashes its shockwave into the ground. The Psycho Cut hits Hoppip knocking it down onto the ground and the Bulldoze hits both its targets as well. All three pokemon are unable to battle at this point.

"What? But how did this happen? It's three on two. We have the advantage." The woman looks hysterical.

"How could a newbie beat our pokemon like that?" The man with the sunglasses looks quite mad at the thought of himself losing.

"Guys I think we have a bigger problem." Chris seems to understand the situation as I start moving forward on them.

"So who is going to take orders from who now?" I say threateningly. My pokemon on either side of me give their most intimidating looks. The gang actually looks scared now.

"Ok ok we are going now." Chris says. The gang returns all their pokemon to their pokeballs. After that they run away through the exit and away from any impending "danger".

"Well I am proud of both of you for handling that situation so well. Your battling skills are quite impressive." I turn solely now to Inkay. "See, if you just have a bit of faith in yourself battling isn't so difficult." Inkay looks a bit worried at the concept of having faith but seems to perk up at having a win in a battle. "Alright then, let's get out of this forest now." I return Inkay to its pokeball and Trapinch and I make our way out of the forest.

Finally we are in Westwend Town and onto my first assignment.

 **Thank you for reading and please review and tell me what you thought of the chapter. After this the chapters should be a bit longer and filled more instead of quick things like this. I hope you enjoy it though and what is to come.**


	4. Aunt Jessica's Request

**Welcome to chapter 4 of The Journey of Dale Gaines. Sorry this is so late but this happens with me. At this point we finally will find out what is Aunt Jessica's request. I hope you enjoy it.**

 **The Journey of Dale Gaines**

 **Chapter 4-Aunt Jessica's Request**

Westwend Town, a town situated on the northwestern area by Force City with Weststring Forest separating the two places. The town is much smaller and less busy than Force City but also seems livelier. People are walking out of their houses and watering their plants. Some walk onto the street and greet their neighbors. Very rarely a few say hi to me even though they don't know who I am. I've been here quite a few times in the past but this is the first time I've been here on my journey. Trapinch looks around noticing the change between the city and now this town. We pass through the main area of the town which has plenty of shops and other important buildings for your daily tasks. I recognize it all, this is my Aunt Jessica's town, who also happens to be the first member of my family to give me a request for my journey.

"We should almost be there Trapinch. Just a little bit further." I tell the pokemon next to me. I can tell the constant walking and the couple of battles it's been in has it looking tired.

Soon enough the center of town becomes a bit more residential and I see a three floored red Victorian style house. I knew that house immediately. "We are here." I hear Trapinch give a sigh of relief even though he looks happy at seeing the house. We enter through the white picket fence gate and knock on the front door. Opening up we see Aunt Jessica.

"Why Dale, you are earlier than I expected. Come in come in." Aunt Jessica is a tall woman, taller than my mom with long blond hair and green eyes. She is wearing a purple floral dress with a simple red scarf wrapped around her shoulders. She immediately gives off an authoritative vibe even though she looks more than she belongs in a beauty content. As soon as we are in her entry room she gives me a long hug telling me how happy she is to see me. "And who is this cool pokemon." Looking down at Trapinch.

"That's my first pokemon. Trapinch." Trapinch acknowledges Aunt Jessica with a smile. "I also caught an Inkay on my way here."

"So you have two pokemon already. That's extremely good." We move towards the living room which is right off the entry room and see Furret and a Budew sitting in the living room.

My Aunt Jessica never married or had any kids so instead she adopts stray pokemon that have been released by people and gives to a loving families. As well she is a well-known member of the community and donates her time to many different causes. I know that the pokemon in her home are only half of the strays she has at the moment.

"Where is Raichu and Honedge?" I ask about her other two strays.

"Raichu is taking a nap upstairs and Honedge is outside working on its Aerial Ace attack." I sit down on the couch next to Furret and scratch its head, which it enjoys. Trapinch sits down on the floor by my feet taking a rest.

"So what is this request you have for me?" I ask about the reason I am here.

"You will just have to wait till dinner tonight when I can tell you." She says as she sits down in an armchair in the room. Budew is on a window seat in the sunlight dozing nicely.

"Aunt Jessica, I need to know the request in order for me to accept it. Otherwise coming here would be for nothing." I say, trying to get the situation on my side. She enjoys when someone pushes her back as much as she pushes.

"Well if you insist then." She smiles to make sure I know she isn't mad. "But before you do that, take Trapinch upstairs to take a nap before our gusts arrive." Guests? I knew nothing about guests but decide to do as she asks before I question her. Trapinch is resting comfortably at my feet but sits up once I get up.

We move towards the back of the living room and head up towards the second floor. The second floor is dedicated towards the stray pokemon in Aunt Jessica's life. It is a hallway and loft area that has two bedrooms off of it. The two bedrooms are each used for a pokemon area for the strays. They are mostly used as resting places where the pokemon can sleep easily. I enter into the closest bedroom and notice it was empty, so I am glad that I am not disturbing Raichu.

I kneel down next to Trapinch "Ok, you can take a nap here for an hour or two to just rest up for tonight's dinner." Trapinch looks happy that he can rest and walks over to an oversized pokemon bed and lays on it. I quietly slip out of the bedroom and head back downstairs.

Aunt Jessica is still sitting in the armchair but now the living room table has a tray of crackers, cookies, cheeses, and fruits to snack on. I sit down and pick up a couple of multigrain crackers to snack on, but before I take a bite I get down to business. "Ok, what is the request you have for me?"

"Well, as you know, I have a couple of guests coming over for dinner. They are Ruth Luther and Nate Luther. Nate just got his first pokemon a week ago and has been thinking about going on his own journey. Ruth, his mother, knew about what you are doing and asked me if maybe you would take him along on your journey. I know you weren't going to be traveling with anyone so I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask you to have a traveling partner with you." So this wasn't a complex request, it was just asking me to bring someone along with me.

"You do know that I could easily have said no to this request when you surprised me with this when they showed up? That would have been embarrassing for the both of us."

"Yes, but I was hoping that you wouldn't just flat out refuse and think about it. So what do you say will you take him on as your partner?" She asks so hopeful. I decide to let the tension stick a bit by picking up a chocolate chip cookie and chewing it like I am thinking the request over. I can tell the effect is having its desired consequence.

"I'll gladly take him on but I first have to meet him. I don't want him to be unlikeable and then have to go everywhere with him. So at this point I'll take him on as a partner but I am allowed to go back and say no if I don't like him." Aunt Jessica seems relived that I said that.

"Of course you can say no to him if you want. I have a feeling you won't though." With that we get back to talking about the family and what has been going in our lives. Her talking about the different events she's been to and me talking about what I'm excited about with my journey. I also told her about my interactions in Weststring Forest. She was impressed with Inkay but worried about the trio I met in the forest. Afterwards though I saw Raichu and Honedge and introduce everyone to Trapinch and Inkay. Promptly at 5 a knock came on the front door. Aunt Jessica opens it up and I see a mother and son standing there. I assume this is Ruth and Nate.

"Please come in, this is my nephew, Dale." Aunt Jessica tells our guests.

"Hello, Dale. I'm Ruth and this is Nate." Ruth gestures to Dale, who seems slightly shy.

Nate, like his mother is blond but instead of having long hair like his mother, has it short and spiked in the front. He is a few inches taller than me and just as thin and around my age. He is wearing a plain brown shirt and jeans. So far he doesn't look like a rude guy so I hope we'll get along.

"Well, dinner is almost ready. I think it would be best to sit down at the dinner table and we can do more talking then." We all follow into the room on the other side of the entry room which is the dining room. It's quite basic with green walls and an eight person dining room table. While Aunt Jessica goes into the kitchen to serve dinner Ruth and Nate sit on one six chair side and I sit on the other. My pokemon and the strays eat out in the living room with each other. Aunt Jessica comes out with a tray filled with meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and carrots. We each grab a portion from the meal and put it on our plates and start eating.

"So Dale, I hear you are starting a journey of your own." Ruth starts up after a few minutes of eating.

"It's ok Ruth. I had to tell him about our plan earlier today, so he knows everything." Aunt Jessica replied. Ruth though didn't look all that annoyed by it. She actually seems glad.

"So what do you think about taking Nate on your journey?" Ruth asks me.

"Well I certainly don't have a problem with it so far." I decide not to mention that I still don't know much about him. I turn to him "What pokemon do you have?" He answers quite quickly to me.

"My mom gave me a Meowth a couple of months back to raise as my first pokemon and then a week ago I just caught Hoothoot in the park." So he has the same amount of pokemon as me but both of his have been around longer than mine.

"I just started my journey today. I got a Trapinch as my first and caught an Inkay on my way here."

"Wow you got two pokemon in one day. That's pretty amazing." He looks quite impressed and I feel quite proud of myself.

We eat a bit more with my aunt and Ruth talking a bit more amongst themselves. At a lull in the conversation Nate then spoke up.

"Can we have a battle tomorrow morning? I would love to test my skills against a new trainer like you." He seems quite determined. I so far have no objections to Nate and personally it would be my first official battle on my journey.

"Sure I'll be glad to have a battle with you." I respond. Nate looks relieved that I accept his request. I'm expecting someone to ask me if I'll take him on as a traveling partner but neither my Aunt nor Ruth say anything more about it.

Soon enough dinner is over and while Ruth and my Aunt go to the kitchen to clean up I notice that Nate heads out back. I decide to follow him. He is sitting on the deck by himself looking out at my Aunt's backyard which isn't decorated much, just some bushes and trees that the stray pokemon she has can play around in.

"Everything ok?" I ask settling down in a chair next to the one he is sitting in. He doesn't seem surprised to see me.

"I'm nervous really."

"About the battle tomorrow?" I don't know what else he could be nervous about.

"No, about traveling on my own. I don't know if you've accepted my mom's request to have me join you but still eventually I will have to find my way in the world and my mom thinks it would be good to have me travel around and see different places on my own. The problem is I wouldn't even know where to start or what to do. I would be going to a random town and just staying the night in some inn. I don't have a goal in mind for what I want to do. Until I get a goal I probably shouldn't be leaving Westwend Town." So his biggest difficulty is finding himself. He's nervous about his future. I can see that. I don't really have a goal unless some member of my family calls me for a request to do.

"Well you do have a goal now." I say to him.

"I do?" He looks surprised, like he should know before me.

"Yeah, your goal is to figure out what you want to do while being my traveling partner." He looks surprised and then extremely happy that I have accepted him into my group.

"You actually honestly mean that?" He says extremely happy. I don't think I've ever seen so much positive emotion register on him.

"Of course I do. Now we better tell the others so that you can prepare to leave soon. We get up and head inside and I swear I see a bounce in his step and I guess I have a slight one too.

The next morning at 9 AM is earlier than I expect to be in a park facing off against my newest friend. Aunt Jessica allowed me to sleep in her guest bedroom for the night while I got myself situated with what I would be doing next. Both my Aunt and Ruth were overjoyed knowing that I was accepting Nate on my journey. But now we have to have this battle to test each other's strengths.

"This match will be a one on one pokemon battle between Dale Gaines and Nate Luther. Each trainer is allowed to use one pokemon. When either pokemon is unable to battle the match will be decided." My Aunt announces to us with Ruth watching the match from the sidelines. "Send out your pokemon."

"Trapinch, lets go." I throw my pokeball and out pops my Ant Pit pokemon. It lands on the ground ready to fight.

"Alright, go Meowth" Nate throws his pokeball and out pops the Scratch Cat pokemon. It let out a loud meow and extended its claws.

"Begin!" my Aunt yelled signaling the battle started.

"Meowth, start things off with Scratch." Nate commands. Meowth is more than happy to obey. It extends its paw towards the ground, its claws glinting in the sunlight and starts running at Trapinch. Aggressive first move. I can be just as aggressive.

"Trapinch, use Bite." I command as well. Trapinch is prepared to counter the attack coming at it. Just as soon as Meowth is about to attack it launches itself and bites down on Meowth's head. But Trapinch is also unprepared since Meowth is able to scratch at it with its claws a few times and Trapinch is forced to break its hold on Meowth and release it.

"Clever trick. Meowth, try out Hypnosis." I wasn't expecting that move. Meowth's eyes turn a light blue and from each of them is released a light blue circle of light that moves towards Trapinch.

"Dodge that." I command. Trapinch quickly moves to the side of the attack and effectively dodges it. "Bulldoze." I quickly try and get out another attack efore Meowth can attack again.

"Scratch, once more." Nate says to his pokemon. Meowth is once again running towards Trapinch but Trapinch raises its leg and slams it on the ground releasing a shockwave through the battlefield. Meowth gets caught in it and falls quickly to the ground. "Get up, Meowth." Meowth slowly got to its feet. "Now, use Return." Meowth quickly ran towards Trapinch with its paw in a fist.

"Trapinch, use Endure." Trapinch starts glowing white and Meowth then starts punching Trapinch, Trapinch is taking it well though. "Trapinch, use Bite again." Trapinch opens its mouth real wide and bite on Meowth's body making it unable to move.

"Meowth, put it to sleep with Hypnosis." Due to the closeness of the two pokemon this time Trapinch could dodge and the attack landed perfectly putting Trapinch to sleep and releasing Meowth from its grasp. "Now Meowth, keep using Scratch on it." Meowth extended its claws and started scratchng Trapinch up. Soon enough Trapinch woke up from all the attacks.

"Ok Trapinch, use Bulldoze." I command. Trapinch quickly becomes aware of its predicament and stomps the ground.

"Meowth, get back." Nate calls out. Meowth quickly tries jumping backwards but gets stuck in a shockwave and falls to the ground.

"Now Trapinch, use Bite and throw it to the ground." Trapinch starts running towards Meowth with its mouth wide open. Before Meowth can react its leaped over Meowth but grabbed its head in its mouth and doing a flip in the air slammed it to the ground. When the dust cleared Meowth wasn't getting up.

"Meowth is unable to battle, Trapinch is the winner and Dale is the winner of the match." Aunt Jessica announces. I sigh with relief that my plan worked. Nate looks disappointed but not upset as he brings out his pokeball.

"Good work Meowth. Take a rest." He says as he returns his pokemon back to its pokeball. I walk over to him with his mom and my aunt walking over to us as well.

"That was a fantastic battle you two I am very impressed." Ruth says. Aunt Jessica also seems pleased.

"I am amazed at how well of a battler you've become since you just started yesterday as a trainer." She then turns to Nate. "You also were fantastic. I think you both will learn a lot from each other." Just then I heard my phone start ringing. I take it out of my pocket to answer it.

"Hello," I answer.

"Dale, its Hermione." Hermione is one of my cousins.

"Hey. What can I do for you?" I ask.

"Well I know you are doing this journey thing and wondering if maybe you can come to Islandhaven to help me out with my training regimen. Since you've started your own journey I was thinking maybe you could help me out with one of my pokemon." I should expect this to happen a lot more. I will need to help my family and friends pretty much at the drop of a hat.

I look at the three people in front of me and smile. "You know what I just had an opening so I'll be glad to come by and help you out." I could hear a sigh of relief on the other end while I saw smiles in front of me.

"That's great I can't wait to see you here." We exchanged information of when I should be there and hung up on each other.

"So it seems you got another request." My Aunt Jessica says to me. I nod.

"Yes, we'll be heading to Islandhaven to help my cousin, Hermione with some sort of training for one of her pokemon." I then look towards Nate. "You still want to come along with me on my journey right?" I ask him. He stops looking disappointed and a big smile spreads on his face.

"Of course I want to go."

"Then as soon as we are all set we are heading to Islandhaven on our journey."

 **Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. We finally are moving onto the next request for Dale's family and gain a new member of the group. Please review and tell me what you thought about it. The feedback is extremely nice to have.**


	5. The Convenience Store Inconvenience

**Welcome to the 5** **th** **chapter of The Journey of Dale Gaines. In this chapter dale and Nate start their journey towards Islandhaven but before they are able to get out of town, have to confront thieves. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **The Journey of Dale Gaines**

 **Chapter 5-The Convenience Store Inconvenience**

"You've got everything you need correct?" My Aunt Jessica asks me for the third time.

"Of course I do." I chuckle. Aunt Jessica did have a way of wanting to make sure everyone left her house ok.

"Good, good. I would hate knowing that you left here unprepared for the road ahead."

We are standing next to her fence gate. Nate had to go home to pack for the journey and we are going to meet up with each other two streets down. Then we are heading to Islandhaven for a request from my cousin Hermione. The town is three towns away which wasn't awful but it would be some days before we reach it.

"I do have to go though if I want to meet up with Nate on time." I say.

"Ok." She pulls me into a hug which I hug back. "Be safe and if I need you for anything else I'll be sure to call you up. Have fun." She says, waving as I walk down the road.

I start my relaxing walk down to where Nate and I plan on meeting up. Trapinch is returned to its pokeball since not only did it battle just a little bit ago but it's walked a lot the previous day so I thought it would be happy with a rest now. I look up into the air and see a group of Wingull flying along. I wonder if they were heading towards Islandhaven like I am.

I soon arrive at a street corner where Nate and I agreed to meet at. I am only waiting a few minutes when I see Nate walking down the other street towards me. "Hey" He says when he arrives where I am.

"Do you have everything you need?" I notice he's carrying a backpack and a knapsack on his side.

He nods at me. "I do, but I need to stop off at a store on the way out of town to pick up something else that I remembered on my way here. It won't take long since it's on the way out of town."

"Well then let's get going." I say and we both start walking towards the west end of town.

Islandhaven is not only three towns away from Westwend Town but also northwest of it. It is situated on the coast and is well known for also having four separate islands as a part of its area that the town provides trips to. My cousin Hermione owned a resort in town and so I am surprised that she called me for a training regimen. I have no idea what it's about or why she needs it.

Soon we are at a busy street that has plenty of shops on either side of it with a lot of activity by people walking around. I notice a little girl with an Igglybuff eating food while sitting on a bench. Across the street I see a young woman wrapping a ribbon around the body of a Mothim, who looks overjoyed at the newest fashion statement its receiving.

"It should be just down there." Nate says pointing down the road. "A few buildings down." Suddenly I hear yelling.

We look to a store right in front of us and see a group of three people, two men and a woman running out of a store.

"Thieves! Stop them!" a man yells, right behind them.

"Wait, hang on." I say as the three people come towards us.

"Out of the way!" a man with blond hair yells at us. Suddenly the three stop short, looking confused then angry.

"It's you, the kid from the woods." The woman states with a scowl.

"The one that made fools of us." The man with the beard says.

"Wait, you are those three from the woods. The Stone Road Group." I say to the three. Their faces contort into a rage.

"That's Stone Street Gang, you idiot." The man with the beard says angrily.

"Didn't anyone teach you to listen to others?" The man with the sunglasses asked. Nate turns to me, looking extremely confused.

"Are these friends of yours Dale?" He asks. Before I can even answer the woman pops in.

"Friends. Friends!" She screams. "This brat cost us a whole day of watching with his stupid beginners' luck. How can a starter trainer beat three accomplished trainers with just two pokemon?" What was with this woman?

"I don't think it was beginners' luck umm whoever you are." I say as I realize I have no clue who these people are.

"The name is Roxanne." She waves to the guy in the sunglasses. "This is Bruno." Then she waves to the other man. "And that is Chris." Before she can say anything else the man who yelled at them before appears between the two ofus.

"I don't know who any of you are but the three of you are going to return the products you stole from me or I will call the police." I suddenly notice that Chris, the man with the beard, is carrying a duffel bag. Apparently that bag isn't for them to have. Before I can say anything Roxanne looks even madder than before.

"You will do no such thing." She enlarges a pokeball in her hand and throws it in the air. "Sewaddle, go." The pokeball opens up and out comes the familiar looking Sewing pokemon.

"Give us some backup Hoppip." Bruno says as he throws his pokeball in the air and out comes his Cottonweed pokemon. The man backs away from the two opponents that have suddenly appear. I take a step forward and push the man behind me.

"I'll take care of this. We still have a score to settle." I enlarge a pokeball and throw it and out comes Inkay. "Ready, Inkay?" It nods at me. Before I can issue a command Nate steps next to me and opens a pokeball of his own and a Hoothoot appears.

"I hope you don't mind but it's better to make this a fair fight and all." I smile knowing that its good to have some backup.

"Chris, make sure you are ready to run. This won't take long at all." Roxanne says with a smile on her face. Soon enough a crowd has gathered around us to watch the event that is happening. I notice that the woman with the Mothim is among them. "Sewaddle, String Shot." Roxanne commands. Sewaddle spits out a long web from its mouth. Hoothoot manages to fly away from it but it loops itself around Inkay. The strand pulls tightly against Inkay.

"Inkay!" I yell. Inkay struggles against the binding but its unable to get itself free.

"Hoppip, Bullet Seed on Inkay." Bruno commands. Hoppip spits out green seeds from its mouth towards Inkay, who still could move around enough to break free from the String Shot attack.

"Hoothoot, help out Inkay." Nate says from beside me. I look up and see Hoothoot flying down. Its talons grab Inkay and it bites the string, breaking it and flies away before the attack can hit Inkay.

"Sewaddle, Razor Leaf now." I can tell Roxanne is getting more frustrated the longer we are able to evade their attacks.

"Inkay, Psycho Cut." Inkay releases a purple energy cut towards the two opponents.

"Hoppip, dodge it." Hoppip is able to use the wind to evade the attack but the energy cut hits Sewaddle and flings it backwards into its trainer.

Hoothoot at this point lowers itself and Inkay back to the ground. I notice that Sewaddle took a lot from the Psycho Cut attack. It's looking extremely tired and slightly annoyed. I look and notice that Chris, the guy with the bag full of stolen products, is standing to the side but looking ready to run if anyone gets even close to him. I look over at Nate and notice that he sees the same thing as me. He looks at me and we both nod, understanding what must be done.

"Inkay, use Psycho Cut. Try and hit both at the same time." I command. Inkay releases it's purple energy slash and it heads towards both Sewaddle and Hoppip.

"Dodge it." Both Roxanne and Bruno yell to their pokemon. They both are able to easily avoid the attack.

"Now Hoothoot. Grab that bag." Nate commands. All three members of the gang look stunned. The attack Inkay had released made it so that both Sewaddle and Hoppip could only dodge effectively to one side of the area. The other side was now open for Hoothoot to rush towards Chris and grab the bag, which it did. Chris struggles as much as he can but the owl pokemon pecks him a few times until he releases it. Hoothoot flies the bag and drops it at the storeowner's feet, who picks it up looking relieved.

"That's no fair!" Roxanne screams at me. She is a hotheaded one, isn't she?

"How did you even do that?" Chris yells, stepping forward well rubbing his arm where Hoothoot pecked him.

"It wasn't difficult at all. I realized that the only thing keeping you in this battle was the fact that you were defending your stolen loot." I state to the gang. "When I noticed that Nate seemed to understand what I was looking at as well as he was I hoped that he would take the chance to grab the bag when the opening presented itself." I chuckled to myself. "Sometimes defeating a pokemon isn't the only way to win a battle."

"Exactly. You three are trapped now." Nate mentions and I look around noticing the crowd is slowly converging on the gang.

"Not for long. Hoppip, Bullet Seed." Bruno commands. Hoppip suddenly launches a large quanity of green energy seeds in the air. I look up and see the seeds start to fall back to the ground. They hit the ground and set off tiny explosions releasing dust and dirt into the air, blinding all of us.

After a bit the air clears and the Stone Street Gang are gone. Everyone sounds shocked and I hear quite a few "Where did they go". Soon enough the crowd disperses and the storeowner comes up to Nate and I.

"Thank you very much for your bravery. I am so glad you confronted them. They stole at least 75 dollars worth of food and products and it wouldn't have been good to lose all that."

"It's no problem at all. I've run into them before and we had some unresolved issues to deal with." I respond as Hoothoot rests on Nate's shoulder and Inkay floats next to me.

"Still thank you again. It means a lot to know there are trainers like you out there." The man quickly turns around and goes back into his store. Nate looks happy and turns to me.

"For our first tag battle, we did pretty well."

"I agree. I think we need to get back on to the journey. We still have a ways to go before we get to Islandhaven." With that we set off towards Islandhaven.

"I don't believe it. How did that kid do this to us all over again?" Roxanne says nearly yelling at her two partners. They are lying in a bush just outside of town after having to bid a hasty retreat from the two kids.

"Good news is that he's never actually beaten us in a battle, just used his skills to end the fight." Chris says.

"Shut up Chris." Bruno replies huffily. "You were the one that lost our bag. If you held on a bit tighter we would have been fine." Chris looks flabbergasted at his partner.

"I seem to remember that those kids tricked us by moving your pokemon towards one side and then that owl was able to grab the bag. I was never in the battle I was just on the side."

"You two shut up." Roxanne whispers quietly. When her two partner look at her she points out of the bush.

The other two look and see two kids walking along the path that leads out of town. The two same exact kids they ran into that day. The same two kids that humiliated them.

"Let's follow them. I want payback now." Roxanne says darkly. With that the gang now knew what they wanted.

 **Thank you for reading the newest chapter. As someone guessed before, yes The Stone Street Gang are pretty much the Team Rocket of this series but there are some big differences.**

 **-The Stone Street Gang are more individually based and have personalities of their own.**

 **-Their motives are more based on annoying people or stealing for their own gain.**

 **-They don't have a boss they look to and thus no one tells them what to do.**

 **Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter and I'll see you in the next chapter.**


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